The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1887-08-18


as for photograph. He was seated in 9
chair upon blanket and sat up firm and
straight. Marshal Dyer gave the word !:
"Ready, firen' The crack of five rifles
rang cut as one, the body falling forward
and the chair falling over backward, his
sat upright. Two bullets pierced the small
rosette pinned over his heart, one . little
above and the other little below the center
Of the rOsette. Death was instantaneous.
Into the Jaws Of Death.
All the railway horrors in the history Of
east Of Chatsworth, Ills, Thursday morn
ing, when an excursion train on the Toledo,
Peoria u Western road dropped through .
burning bridge and over one hundred peo-
pie were killed, and four times that number
more or less badly injured. The train was
composed Of six sleeping cars six day
coaches and chair cars and three baggage
cars. 1t was carrying go passengers, all
excursionists, and was bound for Niagara
Falls. The train had been made up all
along the line OF the Toledo, Peoria Il West
ern road, and the excursionists hailed from
various points in Central Illinois, the bulk
of them, however, coming from Peoria.
Two engines were employed to draw the
heavy train, and the run was slowly made
at first, but near Chatsworth, ILL.,, the speed
was increased until the train had the mo-
mentum at times of nearly o mile . minute.
Three miles east Of Chatsworth, the awful
calamity occurred on the comparatively
small culvert about ten feet long and not
more than twelve feet high. The en-
gineer on the head engine saw q blaze as he
neared the bridge, but supposed it to be
the grass on fire. Too late he saw that the
culvert itself was ablaze and upon this tot
tering structure the train plunged going at
engine passed over safely but the second
went into the ditch, burying and killing
McClintock. and in after came the rest OF
the train. All the coaches, except the
sleeper, plunged in and telescoped each
other. For an instant the sound ofcrushing
timbers was stilled, then from out the
awful silence rose groans and cries of
agony.
Ali Of the day cars went into that narrow
chasm, crushed and smashed together by
the great velocity OF the huge train, the
sleepers remaining upon the track, all their
living and uninjured was to rescue the hurt
and care for the dead, and to this end q
four hours fight with fire ensued. There
was no water, earth was the only weapon
with which the fire could be fought, and so
the attempt was made to smother it out
baskets or barrows to carry it in, and SO,
desperate, they dug their fingers down into
the earth, which q long drouth had baked
almost as hard as stone, heaped theprecious
handsful thus hardly won upon the en-
croaching flames, and with this earthwork.
built handful by handful, kept back the foe.
As the last spark of fire died away q
light came up in the East to take its place,
and dawn came upon q scene OF horror.
While the fight had been going on men had
been dying, and there were not 50 many
wounded to take out of the wreck as there
ad been four hours before, but in the
meantime the country had been aroused.
Help had come from Chatsworth, Forest
and Piper City, and as the dead were laid
reverently alongside Of each other out in
the corn-field, there were ready hands to
take them into Chatsworth. while some Of
the wounded were carried to Piper City.
One hundred and eighteen was the awful
poll OF the dead, while the wounded number
four times that many. The full tale of the
dead cannot, however, be told yet for days.
ChatswOrth was turned into q morgue.
The town hall, the engine house and the de-
house in the little village had its quota Of
the wounded. There were over one hun
dred cOrpses living in extemporized dead
houses, and every man and woman turned
INTO an ameteur but jealous nurse. Over in
a lumber yard the noise of hammers and
saws rang out in the air, and in it busy car
penters were making rough coffins to carry
to their homes the dead bodies of the excur-
sionists who, IL hours previous, had left
their homes full Of pleasurable expectations.
One of the survivors relates that 81 the
first engine cleared the bridge the brush
beneath it famed up as il oil had been
ignited. He was fast in the wreck and
called for assistance. He was aided by
some one outside, and as soon as he was
safely out of the wreck his rescuer grasped
his watch and tore it from him. Another
man was robbed of his chain, the vandal
failing to get his watch. Also the fingers Of
the dead, uoon which were valuable rings.
were cut of. The robbiug of the dead and
injured gave rise to the terrible report
that the bridge had been fred and the train
purpOsely wrecked for the sake OF plunder.
But no confidence is placed in the report
here. 1t is believed that the robbing was
the work of vandals who happened to be at
hand.
When the dead bodies were laid out in the
corn fields these hyenas turned them over in
their search for valuables; and that the
piunder was done by an organized gang
was proven by the fact that this morning,
out in the cOrnfield, IL purses, all empty,
were found in one heap. 1t was q ghastly
plundering, and had the plunderers been
caught they would surely have been
lynched.
Additional deaths from the excursion
train accident now make the number Of
dead LIS. Testimony is being given to q
Coroner's jury and the Railroad Commis
sion of the state will investigate. II it be to
show that the railroad company was guilty
Of negligence the liability that will follow
to the dead and injured with be almost OF
quite a million dollars, q claim that would
A1~<nv Ao1s -
growing that the bridge was set on fire fol
the purpose of wrecking the train, affordine
an opportunity to rob the passengers.
F1res and Casualties.
A passenger train on the Georgia r. r
ran of q bridge near Albany, Ga, Friday
night; ls passengers were injured, bu,
none killed.
Nine buildings caught fire from burning
swamp, at Ssndusky, Sanilac county
Mich, on the 9th, and burned, including tn.
courthouse, hotels, stores, etc.
Hargadine, McKittrick Il Co.'S, dry goods
house at St Louis burned on the 18th los
g 3N, 600 insurance $,GO.OO0. Seven men wer,
buried under debris of falling walls.
The shoe factory at Wolfboro, N. H
burned on the 10th, together with min,
dwellings The factory was the largest il
the state and had SOD employees. Loss $l25,
600, insurance light.
At Salt Lake City, Utah, on the 9th fir,
caused losses Of $bO, 900 to g. M. Shot, hard
ware; $4,000 to Remington & johnson
grocers, and 5000 to various small con
Germs. Insurance ample.
Dyersburg, KY, a small village ON tn
Cumberland river, suffered the loss o
eleven buildings by fire on the llth, in tn
principal part OF the town, chiefly stores
| Loss forty to fifty thousand dollars.
The peanut warehouse of Bishop Il Spea
and Kire's grocery, adjoining, burned OF
| the 10th, at st. Louis, Mo. Three f'remG
were killed and two probably fatally in
jured by falling walls. The loss exceed
$4,000.
Three lumber docks, W ith over 10000